Fall Out Boy is apparently trying really hard to make us fans cry. The booklet that comes with Believers Never Die has notes by all of them. Original scans are here, but because their handwriting gives you a headache to decipher (especially Andy and Joe's, good lord), some person has kindly done it for you. I tried to catch all typos but I might have missed some.

The making of Take This To Your Grave was like going to war (sidenote - completely lost sight of this comparison. I meant to say that it's like a band of brothers. You're in the trenches together, good and bad). It was really scary in a way because it was our first time recording at a pro studio with a really good producer (Butch Vigis studio in Madison, WI; Smart). It was also the first real full length album with a real label. But it was one of the most exciting feelings as well. Going in with my best friends to this legendary studio, with songs we had worked for months on. The pre-production was one of the funnest parts, actually. Cooped up at this head office/warehouse that we could use for free after hours (I have no recollection how we got it), we worked on stuff for hours, talking about what we wanted the record to feel like and sound like and even thinking about what we could do on the next record (some songs didn't fit, but we never ended up using songs written for other record for some reason, so there are hundreds of secret gems living somewhere, almost forgotten). The ultimate goal was to have something as seamless and good from song to song as Saves the Day - "Through Being Cool". Didn't come close, but we tried.

The memories, fights, victories, hard times, awesome parties, shows, friends, etc...connected to this record are too many to mention. Suffice it to say, this is where it all REALLY started. This was our opening argument. Out first strike. And I'm more proud of this record than anything else I've done. I was young and full of shit and it ruled. Now I'm old as fuck but I'm still full of shit, ready to party and have fun. After all these years I'm still vegan straight edge and still in love with these other 3 dudes. I will always take this to my grave. And when this record went gold...that meant more than all the other awards, plaques, bullshit combined. Always will. Now, just make it go platinum!!! Haha.

xsavedgex til death,

x<3x

When we recorded From Under the Cork Tree it was our first time staying in California for an extended amount of time. We lived at the oakwoods (corporate housing) and ate at the "101" acot. I don't think anyone had an idea that this record was going to be as well recieved in the mainstream as it was. We were standing on a huge ledge and had no idea. We recorded on the cheap in Burbank we didn't have a clue where we were headed. I remember that the chorus of "Sugar" was originally a throw away part that we salvaged. I also remember people hearing it in the studio for the first time & saying that it wouldn't work as a single because noone would understand the chorus. we didn't care we wanted heavy guitars. we just wanted to do whatever we wanted to do. we had a couple of fist fights. we also became closer as friends than we ever had been. I had a mental breakdown or close to it & refused to get on airplanes - my band stood by me & waited. I will always love them for that. This was the last time we would be under dogs. Won our first VMA, lost our first Grammy. When I look back it amazes me how much 3 minutes and thirty seconds can change your life. When I look back at these years in my head - it is almost always fondly. Our record spread by word of mouth at first. For that I thank our dedicated fans. You were always there, so hopefully you understand that this is our gift back to you if we changed or saved your life understand you did the same for us.

Always,P.W.

​I was at the Grammies sitting behind Chuck D and across from Elvis Costello when I began writing Infinity on High. As I sat there in my Sunday best (I splurged on an Italian maroon ascot) watching Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys duet a capella, I decided in a room full of innovators that on our two previous albums, I had contributed nothing to pop music.​My saying so is in no way meant as a slight to our indie debut Take This To Your Grave, a strong if derivative pop-punk album from a young band yet uninterested in finding itself. I have slightly less positive things to say of its successor, the exponentially more successful but creatively inconsistent From Under the Cork Tree. for which we were nominated that night. ​It dawned on me that, were we to win, we wouldn't have deserved it. We rightfully lost, I rode back to my hotel, ripped the ascot out of my collar, walked across the street, ate dinner alone, and wondered to myself what would have to change in order for me to feel more comfortable with accolades.​Fear. I was afread of being who I was musically. Pete was always honest and brave lyrically. Joe and Andy were in their playing as well. But I was timid and hid behind convention as well as re-imaginings of other people's innovation. ​I went back to my hotel and began simply writing without fear of how our audience or critics would react. When we ultimately recorded, I sang how I did at home for myself, not in the way I had learned to sing "punk rock."​While I won't say Infinity on High was our best album, I will say it was a watershed for me creatively. Zero grammy nominations though.

-P.V.S.

Folie Ah Dude - by Joseph TrohmanFor me and maybe for the rest of us, this was a return to what Fall Out Boy meant to me in the first place. It meant way back when, 4 piece of shit guys getting together to create music that was exciting to them. And in that, this was the epitome of playing music. I feel like if that was ever lost, between the incarnation of this band and what we became, this was us finding "that" us again. It made me remember that I actually want to do this for a long, long time, and that is was possible to return to the beginning. It may not sound that way, but it sure felt that way.

*sniffles*

And if that wasn't enough, every fan who entered their name at the beginning of shennanigans was written in here.

So, in conclusion, FOB clearly rocks our socks. And, as one ICHer commented, "It's unfair to other bands that this band has four perfect and awesome members." Or words nothing like that, but which mean the same thing.

Oh, and it's so cliche, but...

HEY FALL OUT BOY, YOU WERE OUR ONLY FRIENDS. AND WE KNOW THIS IS BELATED, BUT WE LOVE YOU BACK.

And we don't really know. They say that they're just waiting, taking a break, because they don't have the creative inspiration to do FOB right now. But I dunno. I'm a pessimist, so I'm the wrong person to ask this stuff, haha. But I do hope they come back to us.

I was reading some of the ICH comments, and the one person said, "I think that this is just the list of greatest hits preorders because my full name is on there and I only use that name when I use my credit card..."

Because I'm pretty sure that I entered my name into shenanigans things and I'm not on there..and I didn't get the hits album..

idk.

But this was too cute to read at seven in the morning...for sure..but I'm glad I did..

That could be it too. I didn't do either, so all I know is that I'm not on there for sure, lol. Wow, that means 4632 people preordered? Jeeeez go FOB raking in the dough :P

And if this isn't the end of shennanigans... MORE SHENNANIGANS!?!? :O

I was so sappy when I found it. I read the ICH post on the notes at like 2 AM, and after giving myself a headache trying to read Andy's writing I read the other three and glee!faced, majorly. These boys are too awesome.